Province

Eighty people died from rabies in the eastern China province of Shandong during the first three months of this year, an official daily said Friday. The China Daily quoted a local health official as saying 539 people in the province died from rabies last year.

Chinese health authorities closed poultry markets in a province surrounding Beijing today after a woman died of bird flu, the first such death in the country in almost a year. The 19-year-old woman died of the H5N1 virus after coming into contact with poultry in Hebei province. In parts of the province, poultry markets were closed and the sale of live birds stopped as workers in masks sprayed disinfectant.

Salvadoran guerrillas blew up a bridge in southern Usulutan province, the ninth they have destroyed in a series of attacks since early July, authorities said Tuesday. The bridge, on a secondary road, cut off transport to the town of Jucuaran, 80 miles east of the capital, witnesses said.